Housefather, 31 other Liberal MPs release call to action on rising antisemitism in Canada
‘Antisemitism is becoming normalized,’ Liberal MPs say in their statement
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather and 31 of his caucus colleagues have issued a statement condemning a "deplorable rise of antisemitism in Canada" and calling on Canadians to stand up against hatred toward Jewish communities.
The statement was posted to social media by Housefather just days after a Jewish woman was stabbed in broad daylight at an Ottawa grocery store. Police have said they consider the incident a "hate-motivated crime."
Joseph Rooke, 71, of Cornwall, Ont., was arrested at the scene and charged with aggravated assault and possession of a dangerous weapon, police said. The victim, in her 70s, was critically injured.
Housefather and the other Liberals drew attention to the alleged attack in their statement. "Three years ago, such an incident would have been shocking. Today, much less so," the statement read.
"From attacks on synagogues, Jewish schools and monuments, Jewish-owned businesses, Jewish community organizations and lately individual Jews themselves, antisemitism is becoming normalized."
Jewish woman stabbed in ‘hate-motivated crime,’ police sayAccording to Statistics Canada, there were 920 police-reported hate crimes against Jewish people in 2024 — a number that exceeds the number of hate crimes targeting other religious groups and represents a large jump from 527 reports in 2022.
The Liberal MPs said the "spreading hate is a call to action for all Canadians, all levels of government, law enforcement, schools, public institutions and places of work."
"In Canada, like other countries, actions to target local Jewish communities and make them responsible for actions happening in the Middle East are wrong, unacceptable and antisemitic."
Some signatories of the letter include Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon, Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin, Crown Indigenous-Relations Minister Rebecca Alty and Rachel Bendayan, parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Protecting places of worship, schools, community centres
In their statement, the Liberal MPs said they stand behind Carney's "commitment to quickly bring forward changes to the Criminal Code this fall to prevent unlawful fear and intimidation outside places of worship, schools and community centres."
During the 2025 federal election campaign, Carney and the Liberals promised to introduce legislation to make it a criminal offence to intentionally and willfully obstruct access to any place or worship, schools and community centres.
The Liberals also promised during the campaign to significantly increase the annual budget of the Canada Community Security Program in order to help protect vulnerable communities and places of worship.
On Friday, Carney said the attack on the Jewish woman in Ottawa is "deeply disturbing" and told Canada's Jewish community that "we stand with you against hate and threats to your safety, and we will act to confront antisemitism wherever it appears."
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Montreal Liberal MP Anthony Housefather says Trudeau should resign
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Liberal MP Anthony Housefather speaks to CTV News on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (CTV News)
Montreal MP Anthony Housefather has joined the number of Liberals who are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step aside, saying Monday that he believes the party leader is past his "shelf life."
This marks the first time the longtime Liberal MP for Mount Royal has publicly said he wants his party's leader to step aside. The comments come after the surprise resignation of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, ahead of a possible tariff war with the incoming U.S. president, delivering a major blow to the Trudeau government.
During an interview with CTV Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos, he was blunt when he voiced his opinion on whether Trudeau should stay on as leader.
"Do you think the prime minister should resign?" he was asked.
"Yes," Housefather responded before being asked why.
"I had asked him to do so a couple of months ago. I had written to him. I had said it at caucus. I think at this point most Canadians are fiscally prudent and socially liberal. They see the Conservative Party has strayed far to the right. They feel the Liberal Party has strayed far to the left and if the prime minister remains, I believe he is the ballot question," Housefather said.
"Every Canadian, before they ask anything else, will be saying, 'Do I want Justin Trudeau to stay prime minister or not?' And through, you know, a lot of issues internationally you all see governments are unpopular. Incumbents have a certain shelf life in social media age. I believe the prime minister has passed that shelf life. And I think that for Canadians to have a real choice on the table in terms of things that they will go beyond just saying do they want him to be prime minister or not. We need to have a different leader with a different vision for the Liberal Party to be viable in the next election."
He was joined on the show by Ontario MP Helena Jaczek, who agreed it's time for Trudeau to step down, saying her constituents have told her they would support the Liberals if Trudeau were not at the helm.
Housefather has clashed with his own party in the past and even contemplated whether he would stay a Liberal.
In September 2023, he was relieved of his duty as parliamentary secretary. Political analysts believe it was retribution for Housefather being the only Liberal MP to vote against the federal language bill, Bill C-13, which included a reference to Quebec's controversial Bill 96.
Earlier this year, he even contemplated crossing the floor to the Conservative Party after the last-minute rewriting of a non-binding, symbolic motion regarding the recognition of Palestinian statehood, which he said made him feel "isolated."
He ultimately decided against leaving the Liberal Party after speaking with his constituents.
Liberals 'at a precipice right now'
Last October, Housefather endorsed a "robust caucus discussion" about whether Trudeau should stay on as leader but stopped short of saying he should step aside.
That all changed Monday when Freeland said she was leaving her cabinet position after being told by the prime minister that he no longer wanted her in that role. The move prompted more calls inside and outside the party for the Liberal leader to leave.
Housefather said in the CTV interview that the party is "at a precipice right now" based on his conversations with his constituents who told him that they want to vote Liberal in the next general election, but "would prefer [Trudeau] not be the leader at this point," and the fact that the Liberals are "20 points behind in the polls."
"I really believe that the rest of caucus now needs to seriously reflect on the message that Chrystia gave today. They need to seriously reflect on where we are in the polls," he said.
"I think people want to see actual change, and I think we have a choice right now. We're at a precipice. We either make the change or we don't."
With files from CTV News' Rachel Aiello
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